74 Songs Eligible for "Best Original Song"
Saturday, December 12, 2015 at 12:15PM 
Will LADY GAGA return to Oscar's stage? You know we always kind of thought that Brian Wilson song from Love & Mercy wasn't going to be eligible. It seemed like it had been written before the movie and not for the movie. It's not on the Oscar longlist this year but 74 other songs from the movies are.
Some of the tunes are from obscure movies we haven't even heard of (such is always the case with this category) some are from Bollywood pictures which got stateside release. And a couple of handfuls of songs from Oscar contenders in other categories such as Anomalisa, Cinderella, Shaun the Sheep Movie and Youth are also in the mix.
Lady Gaga, who performed a medley from The Sound of Music last time she was on Oscar's stage, might be back as a nominee if they love her song from the documentary The Hunting Ground . She's not the only famous singer who could grace the stage. Songs written and/or sung by Eminem (already an Oscar winner), Miley Cyrus, Jessie J, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, and Rihanna are also possible contenders. Famous actors that sang their movie's eligible songs onscreen this year include Amanda Seyfried (Ted 2), Meryl Streep (Ricki and the Flash), Tessa Thompson (Creed), and Al Pacino (Danny Collins) though they're far less likely to repeat the trick onstage should those songs be nominated since actors rarely do that on the Oscar stage unless they started as musicians.
The complete list (with any embeddable videos we could find) is after the jump...
“Happy” from Altered Minds
“Home” from Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
“None Of Them Are You” from Anomalisa
“Stem To The Rose” from Becoming Bulletproof
“The Mystery Of Your Gift” from Boychoir
“I Run” from Chi-Raq
“Pray 4 My City” from Chi-Raq
“Sit Down For This” from Chi-Raq
“Strong” from Cinderella
“So Long” from Concussion
“Fighting Stronger” from Creed
“Grip” from Creed
“Waiting For My Moment” from Creed
“Don’t Look Down” from Danny Collins
“Hey Baby Doll” from Danny Collins
“Dreamsong” from The Diary of a Teenage Girl
“It’s My Turn Now” from Dope
“Ya Rahem, Maula Maula” from Dukhtar
“Earned It” from Fifty Shades of Grey
“Love Me Like You Do” from Fifty Shades of Grey
“Salted Wound” from Fifty Shades of Grey
“Hands Of Love” from Freeheld
“See You Again” from Furious 7
“Brother” from Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones
“As Real As You And Me” from Home
“Dancing In The Dark” from Home
“Feel The Light” from Home
“Red Balloon” from Home
“Two Of A Crime” from Hot Pursuit
“Til It Happens To You” from The Hunting Ground
“I’ll See You In My Dreams” from I’ll See You in My Dreams
“The Movie About Us” from Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words
“Bhoomiyilenghanumundo” from Jalam
“Koodu Vaykkan” from Jalam
“Pakalppaathi Chaari” from Jalam
“Yaathra Manoradhamerum” from Jalam
“Lost In Love” from Jenny’s Wedding
“True Love Avenue” from Jenny’s Wedding
“Hypnosis” from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet
“Juntos (Together)” from McFarland, USA
“The Light That Never Fails” from Meru
“The Crazy Ones” from Miss You Already
“There’s A Place” from Miss You Already
“Johanna” from Mortdecai
“Little Soldier” from Pan
“Something’s Not Right” from Pan
“Paranoid Girl” from Paranoid Girls
“Better When I’m Dancin’ ” from The Peanuts Movie
“Pink & Blue” from Pink & Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer
“Flashlight” from Pitch Perfect 2
“Birds Of A Feather” from Poached
“Still Breathing” from Point Break
“Manta Ray” from Racing Extinction
“Cold One” from Ricki and the Flash
“Torch” from Rock the Kasbah
“Someone Like You” from The Rumperbutts
“Aankhon Me Samaye Dil” from Salt Bridge
“Bachpana Thaa”from Salt Bridge
“Kanpne Lage Tum” from Salt Bridge
“Kyaa Bataaun Tujhe” from Salt Bridge
“Le Jaaye Jo Door Tumse” from Salt Bridge
“Na Jaane Kitni Door” from Salt Bridge
“Sookha Hi Rang Daalo” from Salt Bridge
“Feels Like Summer” from Shaun the Sheep Movie
“Phenomenal” from Southpaw
“Writing’s On The Wall” from Spectre
“Squeeze Me” from The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water
“Teamwork” from The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water
“Who Can You Trust” from Spy
“Came To Win” from Sweet Micky for President
“Mean Ol’ Moon” from Ted 2
“Love Was My Alibi” from The Water Diviner
“Fine On The Outside” from When Marnie Was There
“Simple Song #3” from Youth
Reader Comments (28)
Rooting hard for SEE YOU AGAIN.
Holy cow, this is thorough. I think you've put more effort into this post than most music branch members will put into their voting.
Tragically overlooked: this song from Li'l Quinquin, in the musical scene of the year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_QqvfNwwV0
and "The Final Derriere" from The Forbidden Room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6nGs1hpKUo
I'm an "I'll See You In My Dreams" voter, though. That song is cute as hell, and Keegan Dewitt is a genius.
cash -- lol. god i hope not. but i see ur point.
peach -- i'm rooting for i'll see u in my dreams too. deserving and part of hte film in a cool way. I think they should concentrate more on that. end credit songs are annoying.
Am I the only one who prefers Spy's James Bond spoofing "Who Can You Trust" to the actual James Bond song?
"Who Can You Trust" has some heat, the Bond song is lukewarm.
I genuinely hope "Cold One" is nominated. It's a great song and "Ricki and the Flash" is so underrated.
Totally with you Vincent and Paul, "Who Can You Trust" is great spoofing and just a killer song in general.
Anomalisa's song can be found here
http://www.paramountguilds.com/anomalisa/score/
No Final Derriere from The Forbidden Room?!?!?! I'm officially OVER this Oscar season.
"I'll See You In My Dreams," "The Light That Never Fails," "Cold One," and "Who Can You Trust" are terrific. I doubt any of them will get a nomination.
"Who can you trust" isn't bad but I remember being baffled by the opening credits for "Spy" - there's no real joke to the song or the chosen graphics. For me they played it weirdly straight when there's a lot to spoof re: Bond songs.
I just clicked in the link for Al Pacino singing (I know, I know) Sweet Baby Doll and it is actually a very catchy song, but utterly derivative.
i don't even like the song too much, but i would love for wiz khalifa to win an oscar. i do think "worth it" the better song from fifty shades but i wouldn't mid "love me like you do" winning. just don't want it to be some boring ass song from youth
I just watched "Love & Mercy" last weekend and "One Kind of Love" was the second track during the end credits, so that would have disqualified it regardless.
I'm rooting for "I'll See You in My Dreams" too.
And thanks for finding all the videos!
I'm going to make my annual plea for the discontinuation of this category (and the quality of these contenders doesn't exactly provide a counterargument). There is no reason the music branch should get two categories (potentially three!) while editors, cinematographers, costume designers and, you know, DIRECTORS only get one. Just scrap it. Best Score is enough.
At this stage, I'd predict...
1. "Til It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground, performed by Lady Gaga
2. "See You Again" from Furious 7, performed by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth
3. "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre, performed by Sam Smith
4. "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey, performed by The Weeknd
5. "I Run" from Chi-Raq, performed by Jennifer Hudson
"The Final Derriere" from THE FORBIDDEN ROOM and "In April" from SONG ONE are my two favourite original tunes of the year so seeing them both absent is sad.
I've been rooting for "Who Can You Trust" ever since seeing Spy in the theater earlier this year. I agree with Dave S. about its lack of "spoofiness" but I just really like the song.
My only wish is for "Writing's On the Wall" to be nominated because... wow, no. Yeesh.
I notice a lot of people are still predicting WRITING'S ON THE WALL which i think is a silly prediction at this point. Globe tastes dont line up much in this category and Bond songs are rarely nominated (SKYFALLs Oscar success was a major anomaly)
I'm rooting HARD for "Flashlight." I'd love to see Jessie J take the Oscars stage and I love the song as well. I also wouldn't mind seeing "Who Can You Trust?" over the actual Bond theme.
If the goal of this category is how a song enhances the film, I shockingly (to myself quite frankly) find myself rooting for Earned It and Love Me Like You Do. The only bright spot of Fifty Shades was the way the filmmakers made the songs fit into the aesthetic of the movie. To me, the songs enhanced the otherwise hokey sex scenes and, because of this, I can't help but appreciate what they did to the film.
This is a really weak category this year. Upon looking over the nominees (and the thorough videography above), I'm disappointed that I can't care about this category this year. I always hold a fondness for this category as during my 90s childhood, it was the one place during the Oscar telecast where the movies that I watched -- Disney animated flicks -- made an appearance. This year, though...ugh...
@Nathaniel, I think the predictions for Writing have to do with Sam Smith being in that same sweet spot Adele was in when she won (Grammy stamp approval, hit album, mainstream star, powerful voice, British). He's right up Oscar's alley even if the franchise history isn't,
I'm also really curious (heh) how the songs from 50 Shades of Gray will do. I guess if Norbit can get nominated, anything could happen.
I just really like the Elle Goulding song "Love Me Like You Do".
The theme from " Spectre" like the movie is instantly forgettable.
If the Spectre theme is nominated, it will merely be because A) everyone treats him like the next Adele even tho he's pretty mediocre and Skyfall just happened, and B) this category is extremely thin/weak this year
I like Eminem's 'Phenomenal', Meghan Trainor "Better when I'm dancin' and Jenifer's 'feel of the light'. These three songs are really wonderful.